More than anything, the Texas Rangers are looking for starting pitching this off-season. So, good news for the Texas Rangers: three starting pitchers just hit the free-agent market.
A.J. Griffin, Nick Martinez, and Chi Chi Gonzalez are now free to sign with whatever team they like. Griffin had been rumored to be a non-tender candidate, but the other two are a fairly shocking development. In addition, Hanser Alberto was also non-tendered, leaving the Rangers’ 40-man roster at 35.
Martinez’ best season was 2015. The Rangers won eight of his first nine starts. But regression is unkind, and the former Fordham infielder has compiled a rather uninspiring 17-30 mark in his four big-league seasons with Texas, striking out just 237 batters in 415⅓ innings, against 148 walks and a 4.77 ERA.
Chi Chi Gonzalez was a much more highly-regarded prospect—a first-round draft pick in 2013—but after a stellar debut (5⅔ innings of shutout baseball against the Red Sox) and second start (a complete-game shutout against the Royals) in 2015, Chi Chi seemed to lose confidence in his secondary pitches. Then this Spring, he suffered a tear in his UCL. After trying unsuccessfully to rehab it, it was announced that Gonzalez would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss not only the remainder of the 2017 season, but 2018 as well. His biggest contribution to the Rangers this year? Annoying Albert Pujols.
Hanser Alberto missed 2017 with an injury as well: his shoulder prevented him from seeing any action after filling the utility role with Texas in 2015-16. You might best remember Alberto for his unlikely heroics in Game 2 of the 2015 ALDS, filling in for the injured Adrian Beltre.
That leaves us with A.J. Griffin. The bespectacled, bearded, guitar-playing not-left-hander with the Bugs Bunny curveball. Griffin had mixed results in Texas, often giving up more than his fair share of home runs, but also striking out more batters than you might expect from someone with a fastball that sits 88mph.
Non-tenders happen when a player is arbitration-eligible, and the team fears that they might end up paying more for the player than they’re comfortable allotting. It’s possible that one or more of the players might return to Texas for a lower price, especially considering the dearth of starting pitching in the organization.
More likely, the needs will be met from outside. Aside from the Ohtani white whale, there are two more intriguing possibilities from Japan: Miles Mikolas (who played for the Rangers in 2014) and Chris Martin of Arlington. Both guys revamped their careers overseas, and Texas has been rumored to be in the mix for both guys.
fireovid says
Martinez is absolute replacement level at best. Good GMs like JD can find that for less than that $2 mil. They soured on ChiChi long ago which led to this. Remember when he threw over 120 pitches in under 5 innings? i sure do bc it was crazy stuff you don’t see. If they loved him, they would have pulled him at 100. I’m not saying that contributed to TJ … but it’s likely.
TRangerInNY says
According to Fangraphs WAR tables, Martinez & Griffin were the 2 worst career starting pitchers in team history. It wasn’t very close either.
fireovid says
Huh? Fangraphs doesn’t remember Roger Pavlik?